Blue Line (Taipei Metro)

The Taipei Metro Blue Line is a high-capacity rapid transit line comprises three lines: the Nangang Line, the Banqiao Line, and the Tucheng Line. The lines are divided at Ximen Station and Fuzhong Station, and offer through traffic to one another. When fully completed, it will have a total of 23 stations serving the Nangang, Xinyi, Daan, Zhonghsan, and Wanhua districts, as well as into the New Taipei districts of Banqiao and Tucheng.

The Banqiao and Nangang Lines are collectively called the Bannan Line. The entire line runs underground. The excavation of tunnels using the cut-and-cover method resulted in large scale detouring of road traffic. Because of that, the line runs beneath existing roads and totals 28.3 km (17.6 mi).

Overview

Current services terminate at Yongning and Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. Dingpu is currently under construction and will become the other terminus of the line (replacing Yongning) when it is completed. It is expected to be operational in 2014.

While current services run the full-length line from Yongning to Nangang, a shorter route from Far Eastern Hospital to Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center is being run during rush hour traffic.

History

• November 8, 1990: The Nangang Line begins construction.
• December 30, 1991: The Taipei Main Station western underground passageway opens.
• December 24, 1993: Nangang Line construction at the intersection of Zhongxiao East Rd. and Shaoxing Rd. caves in, causes traffic jams.
• October 30, 1998: Construction is completed on the tunnel between Kunyang and Houshanpi.
• December 24, 1999: The segment from Taipei City Hall to Longshan Temple begins revenue service.
• August 31, 2000: The segment from Longshan Temple to Xinpu begins revenue service.
• December 30, 2000: The segment from Kuknyang to Taipei City Hall begins revenue service.
• September 17, 2001: Typhoon Nari floods many Nangang Line stations, rendering them nonoperational.
• November 29, 2001: Typhoon-damaged Taipei Main Station re-opens for service.
• December 30, 2003: The Nangang Line eastern extension to Nangang begins construction.
• November 17, 2004: The Nangang Line eastern extension to Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center begins construction.
• May 27, 2006: The segment from Banqiao to Tucheng opens for trial operations.
• May 31, 2006: The segment from Xinpu to Yongning begins revenue service.
• May 16, 2008: The Nangang Line eastern extension to Nangang begins trial service.
• December 25, 2008: The Nangang Line eastern extension to Nangang begins revenue service.
• February 27, 2011: The rest of the Nangang Line eastern extension to Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center opened for service.^[1]

Planned dates

• July 2014: The Tucheng Line extension to Dingpu Station will begin revenue service.

Stations

See also

• Tucheng Line
• Banqiao Line
• Nangang Line

References